Embark on an all-encompassing dining experience when you visit La Mar by Gaston Acurio. Located at Mandarin Oriental Miami, La Mar offers a mouthwatering menu of classic Peruvian dishes combined with a contemporary flair. While this has always been the case (it was kind of a drool fest when we visited for Miami Spice last year), Chef Diego Ogo added some more twists – think parmesan cheese in cebiche – when he recently launched the new menu. And yes, they really do work. It’s magic in the kitchen.
Although we tasted our way through all sorts of deliciousness and doubt that you could have a bad meal here, we did have a few favorites.
Savor Tonight was invited in to La Mar for a complimentary meal to taste the new menu. All opinions expressed here and photographs featured are my own.
5 dishes to try at La Mar
Peru meets Italy with the Bachiche, chef’s unique spin on a tiradito. While a traditional tiradito is prepared in a leche de tigre marinade with lime and aji peppers, chef was inspired by his recent trip to Italy and prepared this one in a 22-month aged parmesan cheese leche de tigre. After one bite into this, we had to do a double take and remind ourselves that we weren’t in an Italian restaurant, but soon after, found ourselves savoring each element. The crunch of the garlic chips, the truffle and basil oil all made for a welcome play on flavors and textures and one that we’d certainly come back for.
If you’re looking to add some fresh produce to your lunch or dinner, La Mar’s Vegetable Cebiche is what you want. The medley of fresh heirloom cherry tomatoes, avocado, radishes and carrots are bathed in a Aji Amarillo Leche de Tigre sauce — simple flavors done right — and are a perfect starter to your meal.
Presentation is just as important as the food at La Mar by Gaston Acurio (perhaps, that’s why it’s one of my favorite places to take food photos in Miami) and the Conchitas a la Parmesana delighted both my eyes and my palate. A tender scallop served in a Parmesan cheese foam with garlic bread crumbs and a squeeze of lime – how can you go wrong here? Perfectly prepared, this dish definitely made it into the ‘I want to lick my plate clean’ status, but we could’t or could we?
For a showstopping dish, order the Flor Causa, a new addition to the menu that is sure to win you over. This comforting dish of black causa is stuffed with Maine lobster tartare and then, dotted with avocado, salmon eggs and edible flowers — perfection in every way. Don’t wait too long to eat, as this one is sure to be gobbled up quickly.
Although, you could make a meal out of only small plates, you’d be missing out if you didn’t try some of the larger, house specialties like the Rocoto Relleno. This signature dish brought a trifecta of flavors and elements together into one — the spice of the Chile Relleno, the comforting base of dry potatoes with fontina cheese, and the fresh seafood stew made for a well-balanced, hearty dish that you could feed me any day of the week.
La Mar by Gaston Acurio is located at Mandarin Oriental Miami at 500 Brickell Key Drive.